“One day, you will be brought to justice for your crimes. When the Azure coalition gets word of the people you’ve murdered here today, they’ll be after you with the full force of their fleet. Just you wait.”
“Oh I’m quaking in my boots honey, but I’ve got more important things to worry about than idle threats, now either you’re going to help me get what I want, or I’m going to slaughter another one of your men.”
Two women stood aboard the deck of an airship, miles above the ground. The clouds of dirt and dust rose and swayed around them, obscuring the view of any nearby ships. Of course, there weren’t any ships nearby, that would have been too convenient.
When Betty had come across a derelict ship with no engines running and not a crewman to be seen on deck, she thought there must have been something horribly wrong. She was right, the whole damsel-in-distress setup was a trap. As Betty instructed her crew to approach the ship, it became more and more apparent to her that this was the ship The Dread Queen home of the infamous pirate: Amy D. Jones. Alas, it was too late for her to alter course and get away then.
Now they stood face to face on the deck of a smoldering ship.
“Ahh, I see that’s gotten your attention! If you want your precious few crewmates to live, you’re going to find me what I want.”
“Just what could a pirate like you want from this ship. We’re just transporting supplies from Montagane to The Coalition, simple things like water and food.”
“Well, some of that water and food is going to become ours, but more importantly, you’re going to show me the crates in your hold, and I’m going to take one off of your hands.”
With a wave of her fingers, Amy began to walk towards the staircase down into the hold of the ship. Two burly men pushed at the back of Betty, telling her to follow.
“You see my dear, more goes on in these simple trade routes than you could even begin to imagine. Lots of opportunities to make a striking profit. Your little harmless transport job holds more secrets than you might be able to imagine.”
“Please save me the lecture about how there are more evil people in this world than you.”
“Oh but there are! Those crates contain some vile secrets, as I’m sure you’ll soon see.”
They rounded a corner on the bottom level of the ship interior, entering into a rather large room full of stacked crates of food and water. A few of Amy’s thugs started to unravel the bindings of crates of food and water, taking them back to her own ship.
“And you’re telling me that someone who steals food from where it’s needed is a better person than someone who shares some lousy secrets? Please, I can’t bite into that.”
“Oh if all they were sharing was a few secrets, then I would be the worse party for sure. But these are so much more than secrets. These are the kinds of secrets people fight wars over to keep from being exposed.”
“Is that your plan then? To start a war?”
“Whatever is best for numero uno.” Amy came to a stop in front of a crate labeled DZ-17. It was clearly supposed to be a crate of fruit or vegetables of some kind, but when she popped the lid on the thing, much to Betty’s surprise, she revealed a couple of sandbags to simulate the weight of food.
“Viola!” Amy reached down into the crate and brushed aside the sandbags to find a folder. She raised the folder to eye level and inspected the name of the report. “The Montagane Surveillance Report.”
Betty’s curiosity got the best of her. “What is that thing?”
“Mostly it’s a bunch of numbers, but it’s numbers that could drive the heads of states to war.” Amy opened the folder up to a random page. “Population numbers of smaller cities, trade route data, cargo shipment details, enlisted soldiers, number of active warships, anything you can imagine is in this folder. It appears your peaceful Azure Coalition had a bit of its own agenda, or else the wouldn’t have ordered these files to be shipped home.”
“The Coalition has spies in the Montagane Empire?”
“Bingo! And now you’re one wiser to plot your own course through the coming months of war and desolation. Most of our friendly superpowers have quite strong motivations to infiltrate and attack each other, and all it takes is a little push.” She tapped the cover of the report. “This is the push.”
“What use is it to you if you start a war?”
“Oh honey, you have much to learn still don't you. A lot of things get lost in a war. Lost shipments of weapons, lost bodies, lost convoys of resources. Even more than that, war presents the need for fighters, and well…” Amy struck a bit of a pose to show herself off a bit. “Nobody is as good at fighting as we are.”
“Oh I’m quaking in my boots honey, but I’ve got more important things to worry about than idle threats, now either you’re going to help me get what I want, or I’m going to slaughter another one of your men.”
Two women stood aboard the deck of an airship, miles above the ground. The clouds of dirt and dust rose and swayed around them, obscuring the view of any nearby ships. Of course, there weren’t any ships nearby, that would have been too convenient.
When Betty had come across a derelict ship with no engines running and not a crewman to be seen on deck, she thought there must have been something horribly wrong. She was right, the whole damsel-in-distress setup was a trap. As Betty instructed her crew to approach the ship, it became more and more apparent to her that this was the ship The Dread Queen home of the infamous pirate: Amy D. Jones. Alas, it was too late for her to alter course and get away then.
Now they stood face to face on the deck of a smoldering ship.
“Ahh, I see that’s gotten your attention! If you want your precious few crewmates to live, you’re going to find me what I want.”
“Just what could a pirate like you want from this ship. We’re just transporting supplies from Montagane to The Coalition, simple things like water and food.”
“Well, some of that water and food is going to become ours, but more importantly, you’re going to show me the crates in your hold, and I’m going to take one off of your hands.”
With a wave of her fingers, Amy began to walk towards the staircase down into the hold of the ship. Two burly men pushed at the back of Betty, telling her to follow.
“You see my dear, more goes on in these simple trade routes than you could even begin to imagine. Lots of opportunities to make a striking profit. Your little harmless transport job holds more secrets than you might be able to imagine.”
“Please save me the lecture about how there are more evil people in this world than you.”
“Oh but there are! Those crates contain some vile secrets, as I’m sure you’ll soon see.”
They rounded a corner on the bottom level of the ship interior, entering into a rather large room full of stacked crates of food and water. A few of Amy’s thugs started to unravel the bindings of crates of food and water, taking them back to her own ship.
“And you’re telling me that someone who steals food from where it’s needed is a better person than someone who shares some lousy secrets? Please, I can’t bite into that.”
“Oh if all they were sharing was a few secrets, then I would be the worse party for sure. But these are so much more than secrets. These are the kinds of secrets people fight wars over to keep from being exposed.”
“Is that your plan then? To start a war?”
“Whatever is best for numero uno.” Amy came to a stop in front of a crate labeled DZ-17. It was clearly supposed to be a crate of fruit or vegetables of some kind, but when she popped the lid on the thing, much to Betty’s surprise, she revealed a couple of sandbags to simulate the weight of food.
“Viola!” Amy reached down into the crate and brushed aside the sandbags to find a folder. She raised the folder to eye level and inspected the name of the report. “The Montagane Surveillance Report.”
Betty’s curiosity got the best of her. “What is that thing?”
“Mostly it’s a bunch of numbers, but it’s numbers that could drive the heads of states to war.” Amy opened the folder up to a random page. “Population numbers of smaller cities, trade route data, cargo shipment details, enlisted soldiers, number of active warships, anything you can imagine is in this folder. It appears your peaceful Azure Coalition had a bit of its own agenda, or else the wouldn’t have ordered these files to be shipped home.”
“The Coalition has spies in the Montagane Empire?”
“Bingo! And now you’re one wiser to plot your own course through the coming months of war and desolation. Most of our friendly superpowers have quite strong motivations to infiltrate and attack each other, and all it takes is a little push.” She tapped the cover of the report. “This is the push.”
“What use is it to you if you start a war?”
“Oh honey, you have much to learn still don't you. A lot of things get lost in a war. Lost shipments of weapons, lost bodies, lost convoys of resources. Even more than that, war presents the need for fighters, and well…” Amy struck a bit of a pose to show herself off a bit. “Nobody is as good at fighting as we are.”